The party is over for Germany — but it was fun while it lasted

The crowd at the Highland Tavern grew increasingly subdued after Spain scored in the 73rd minute.

The Highland Tavern in north Denver was the place to be for fans of Germany today as their team played Spain in the second World Cup semifinal. Spain scored in the 73rd minute for a 1-0 victory, a bitter blow for those of us who root for Germany — a German team that was the shining surprise of the tournament until today.

Kristian Baehre, one of the tavern’s owners, took it especially hard. His earliest memory as a boy was of watching Germany play Holland in the 1974 World Cup final with his father, a game Germany won 2-1. Holland made it to Sunday’s championship final by beating Uruguay 3-2 on Tuesday, and many German fans were hoping for another duel with the Dutch.

“This is devastating,” a somber Baehre said. “We could have had (Germany-Holland) all over again, and my father is 76 years old. I was hoping I could relive it with him.”

I loved those Franz Beckenbauer-Gerd Mueller teams of the ’70s, too. At least today’s outcome was a fair result. No one could say Spain didn’t out-play Germany, didn’t deserve to win. Spain was clearly the better team on the day. I’d like to think Germany was better than it showed, that its youth made it play tight in a game with so much on the line.

But it was a great run, Germany. Can’t wait to see what you can do in the next World Cup.

As they were saying here today: “Es ist nur vier jahre.” It’s only four years.

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